Let's be real , disney will sue this out of existence before it ever gets released

[NurdFerguson]

like come on

[Mr. No_Effs_Given]

They can't do ♥♥♥♥. The aesthetics are similar to old Mickey, which is on public domain. So yeah, game will be fine.

[Creeper ⁧?!]

It's based off Public Domain Mickey, they can't do ♥♥♥♥. 💀

[dedeed]

the fleischer studios drew mice in a similar way so...

[The Black Baron]

You must have missed the whole part about steamboat Willie becoming public domain, hence the flood of Max Fleischer looking media now.

[NurdFerguson]

steamboat willie only there other mickey mouse cartoons from this era that are still under copyright that use similar style to this which i guarantee can be argued in court this resembles quite close to

[shoveen1]

Originally posted by Mr. No_Effs_Given:

They can't do ♥♥♥♥. The aesthetics are similar to old Mickey, which is on public domain. So yeah, game will be fine.

Thats what i was thinking, its the aesthetic. They cant sue for aesthetic.

[Ginaz]

Stop being a corporate shill and go concern troll elsewhere.

https://time.com/6551496/mickey-mouse-public-domain-steamboat-willie/

[Nice]

Sorry for being gloomy but were not talking about 'whats right' here- were talking big companies that are overly protective and abusive whenever they can. If you think Nintendo is bad were talking disney here- the copyright laws were changed 2 or 3 times out of sheer 'pressure' and lobbying from disney alone. By the original laws Mickey and others wouldve been public domain for a long time now.

Theres a trap within steamboat willie if not more then one and the weeks after it went public a number of articles pointed out what is and isnt public domain - the most obvious being the name, when steamboat willie was released they werent calling him Mickey yet.

Then theres design things - steamboat willies mouse DONT HAVE GLOVES for example. Anything from later designs of mickey arent included in the public domain, and white gloves with vertical lines across came up with later mickey mouse re-designs.

Just one of many articles pointing things like that: https://deadline.com/2024/01/mickey-mouse-public-domain-2024-steamboat-willie-1235681133/

But it gets worse- Trademarks are separate from copyright and trademarks never expire. Names, logos and such - so Mickeys name itself probably wont be available... but then comes the catch- disney used mikeys designs in logos.
What now? Where does it fall legally? Theres no answer btw- this is a upcoming legal decision in the waiting, long time coming and Disney is aware. Some day either Disney or another company will try shutting someone down over public domain vs logo/trademark (that used elements from the now public domain before it went public) and it will be up for the tribunals to decide some new ruling over such scenarios... could go either way but, come on, they won in such cases multiple times in the past.
Coincidentally of course. Nothing to do with how much money they have, im sure they havent paid their way to their winings. Just coincidence...

And heres something i noticed i havent seen anyone mentioning:
BEFORE steamboat willie went public domain...
Walt disneys animation studios changed its logo, or added a new one. Wikipedia still shows the old one but for at least 2 years prior to the public domain every old cartoon from disney shows their new branding identity with this logo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayo-VPTLR9Y

im not sure if steam will allow the non steam links, but just search for walt disney animation studios images- the new branding is steamboat willie piloting while whistling.
I also find it very suspicious they made sure to make it an animated intro (similar to universal studios globe, MGMs Lion etc) - said intro make sure to show the main iconic part of steamboat willie animated (so its not just a mouse piloting, but also him whistling AND the tune).

As far as legality is concerned theres nothing certain about that tough. By normal copyright law it should be fair game the whole of steamboat willie... until one day Disney may choose someone for litigation claiming trademark. Will they loose? Will you win?

Im no shill, im not defending Disney at all quite the opposite. Id just make some changes to try to better shield from their lawyers seeing a chance with this game. Disney will likely come after something that make more waves (maybe the horror film someone is making) but theres another risk - if im not mistaken 'failing' to defend ip/trademark have some precedence for loosing claims. Like if a company ignore some infrigiment and later sue someone theres been casings where companies lost because the defendants pointed out how they hadnt sued x or y other infringers before... so if Disney have no good target they may come after anyone or multiple ones just to make sure and set their foot right away.

So far the game is doing fine btw- my guess the devs started developing and showing stuff before steamboat willie went public so theyre not showing the protagonist or 'willie' and so far ive only seen enemies... and that may be enough to shield then against anything.

If the devs want to play it safe i would keep the protagonist vague- or if show take off his gloves, or avoid he piloting a boat directly while whistling. But my bet even with a mirror to see your willie-like face, if he have no gloves and leaves his boat on lvl 1 (wihout whistling/piloting) Disney wont be able to do anything

[uberfrag+.]

True, and the ones who say no are zoomers

[Mr. No_Effs_Given]

Originally posted by FRAGGIACAPRAs:

True, and the ones who say no are zoomers

Not really. Disney is the fastest when it comes to suing for whatever reason, and nothing happened after all these months after the game was revealed. So yeah, they ain't gonna do ♥♥♥♥ .

[P0PiTiN]

Folks, their website says this:

''PlaySide Studios Limited is Australia’s largest video game developer. It provides titles in a range of categories, including self-published games based on original intellectual property and games developed in collaboration with studios, such as Disney, Pixar, Warner Bros, and Nickelodeon''.

These people will be more than informed.

[Unseen]

They should worry more about the comic book Maus but even that's probably not a big deal. Completely different names and content. Maus is about mice in the holocaust not shooting gangsters.

[Mr. No_Effs_Given]

Originally posted by Unseen:

They should worry more about the comic book Maus but even that's probably not a big deal. Completely different names and content. Maus is about mice in the holocaust not shooting gangsters.

They should worry about nothing. I don't see any resemblance to Maus, completely different style, history and tone.

[darkzeus85]

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey hasn't had any legal issues, I doubt this will either. Pretty sure Disney is more concerned about the Streisand Effect than anything.

[Schorsch Wadschinken]

Might as well sue Cuphead then